At just after noon on Saturday, an Emirates Boeing 777 descended into Newcastle Airport before rolling into a water salute welcome.

The plane, which will fly between Newcastle and Dubai, makes history as the longest aircraft ever to fly out of the airport.

Captain Andy Smith, who trained in the North East almost 20 years ago, said: “The 777 is quite a versatile aircraft. It flies anywhere from 30-minute sectors to 16-hour sectors across the North Pole and to the west coast of the United States.

“We’re trained to fly in and out of all airports, but Newcastle is a challenge with regards to the runway, but nothing that causes us any problems.”

With 428 seats, the Boeing 777-300ER is the longest aircraft ever to operate out of Newcastle.

It replaces the 278-seat Airbus A330-200, providing an extra 2,000 seats to and from Dubai every week.

Since the route was launched, Emirates has carried more than 10m kilos of cargo between Newcastle and Dubai, everything from oil rig equipment and car parts to pharmaceuticals. The arrival of the larger aircraft means an almost doubled cargo capacity.

Emirates handed out celebratory cake to passengers checking in for the return leg to Dubai and two travellers were given surprise upgrades to one of the aircraft’s 42 luxurious lie-flat business class beds.

Graeme Mason, Newcastle Airport’s planning and corporate affairs director said: “To have something of this size operating into the North East is of massive significance.

“It’s a sign by a global brand, Emirates, that they’re confident in the region, they’re prepared to make a massive investment and increase capacity both in terms of passengers and freight.”

Speculation about a scheduled transatlantic route has rolled on for years, but Mr Mason would not be drawn on potential details.

He said: “In terms of other long haul services, we’ll continue to work very hard. The fact that a global brand like Emirates are confident in the airport and the region puts us in very good stead to try and get other services.”